Saturday, April 12 | 7:30 p.m. PT | First Responders Appreciation Night
🏟: BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
🎁: The first 15,000 fans to enter the stadium will receive a commemorative First Responders pin presented by Kaiser Permanente.
LAFC returns home from its hard-fought Concacaf Champions Cup loss in Miami to face the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS regular-season play at BMO Stadium Saturday night.
Inter Miami, the defending Supporters’ Shield winners and current MLS table leaders, needed all 180 minutes of its two-leg Quarterfinal series against LAFC to get past the reigning U.S. Open Cup champions on aggregate goals, 3-2. Now the Black & Gold regroups and prepares for a calmer but still critical stretch of five consecutive weekend games – three at home and all five against conference opponents – beginning with the Quakes’ visit to LA.
FAMILIAR FOE, NEW LOOK
Led by former USMNT coach and five-time MLS Cup winner Bruce Arena, who was hired by San Jose last November, the Earthquakes (3W-3L-1D) are currently in eighth place in the Western Conference, with 10 points from seven games. San Jose is tied for first in MLS with Orlando City for goals scored (15), including six in a 6-1 win over D.C. United last weekend.
Former league MVP Josef Martínez was named MLS Player of the Matchday for his performance against D.C. United, in which he recorded his seventh career hat trick—the most in MLS history.
Playmaker Cristian Espinoza, who has been a handful for LAFC since he joined the Quakes from Argentina’s top division in 2019, moved past Landon Donovan into fourth place on San Jose’s all-time goals list by scoring his 33rd in last week’s win. Espinoza is currently tied for first in MLS in assists (5) with Pep Biel of Charlotte FC. Former LAFC striker and 2022 MLS Cup champion Cristian “Chicho” Arango started the scoring for San Jose last week with his fourth goal of the season.
BLACK & GOLD GRIT
LAFC (3-4-0) sits just behind San Jose in ninth place in the West, with nine points through seven games. LAFC is 5-1-0 at home this year in all competitions. All five home wins have been clean sheets.
LAFC has not lost to San Jose in Los Angeles since Sept. 2020 (all competitions) and owns a 6-0-1 home record against the Quakes in that span.
Saturday’s matchup marks the 21st all-time meeting between LAFC and San Jose in all competitions, with the Black & Gold holding a 12-7-1 overall record in the series. The teams met four times last year, including three times in league play. LAFC won two and lost one of those MLS matches and defeated the Quakes in Leagues Cup play as well. Those four combined scorelines fell 14-7 in LAFC’s favor.
The clubs last clashed six months ago, in each team’s 2024 regular-season finale on MLS Decision Day.
MEMORABLE NIGHT
To earn the Western Conference’s top seed in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, LAFC needed to secure a home victory over San Jose on Oct. 19 by at least a two-goal margin, coupled with a Galaxy loss in Houston. The Black & Gold fell behind early, 1-0, then got second-half goals from Denis Bouanga and Eduard Atuesta before a stoppage-time goal from Marlon gave LAFC the goal differential it needed. A hopeful BMO Stadium crowd then hung around and watched on the big screen as the Houston Dynamo upset the Galaxy with a stoppage time goal of their own, allowing LAFC to finish first.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
It swallows the bitter pill it was handed in Miami, absorbs its lessons, and moves on. In its seven-plus years of competition, LAFC has been defined as much by its resilience and character as by the four major trophies it’s won. Disappointments are part of the deal when a club’s aspirations are as lofty as this one’s. Last season’s Best in the West side was 3-3-1 at this point of the season. It held fast, stayed connected, and lost only five of its remaining 27 league games.
SAN JOSE CAN WIN IF
Martinez and Arango find room in front of LAFC’s goal. Opponents who give them half-chances near the danger area often find themselves shrugging with confusion and picking the ball out of their own net.
